The 2023 model year saw vehicle sales kick into high gear, increasing over 12% from the model year prior. Among these, Compact SUVs remain one of the hottest categories and continues to grow.
Heading into 2024, practicality has always been the biggest benefit in the small SUV category, and lots of entries fit the bill. Maybe not the entries from Porsche or Mini, but most of the mainstream small SUVs are a good choice. The challenge lies in figuring out which one works the best for you. There are currently over 40 vehicles in the segment, a bewildering array of vehicles that largely look the same. They all offer some form of touchscreen infotainment system, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on most models.
The Best Small SUVs of 2024
- Chevrolet Equinox
- GMC Terrain
- Hyundai Tucson
- Subaru Crosstrek
- Hyundai Venue
- Volkswagen Taos
- Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
- Kia Niro
- Jeep Compass
- Toyota Corolla Cross
Chevrolet Equinox
Best for: Parents with teens
The Equinox is essentially the same vehicle it was when it was overhauled in 2018, but it got a significant facelift for the 2022 model year. The 2024 Equinox carries over with some minor color and package availability changes.
The Equinox has always been a competent, easy-to-live-with vehicle, but the revamp brought new styling and trim level choices. All of the Equinox trims are powered by the same 1.5-liter LYX inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine and a six-speed automatic transmission. All-wheel drive is available regardless of trim level.
Even at the base level, the Equinox gets a Chevrolet Infotainment 3 system with a 7-inch diagonal touchscreen, USBs all over the place, a 12-volt outlet between the driver and passenger along with a second outlet in the cargo area, wireless Apple CarPlay and wireless Android Auto, and GM’s Teen Driver monitoring system, a boon for parents of new drivers.
GMC Terrain
Best for: People who love the GMC nameplate
The Terrain is exactly the same vehicle underneath as the Chevrolet Equinox. It just looks a little tougher and has that big, bold grille with the GMC nameplate. And like the Equinox, GMC held off from introducing a revamped model during the height of the pandemic, so sales jumped right after it’s big 2022 refresh.
Like the Equinox, the Terrain gets a boost to 175hp from the sole engine in the lineup, a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. The interior packaging is nice, offering a fold-flat front seat along with the normal folding rear seats. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Wireless Android Auto are standard, and Amazon Alexa capability is available.
Hyundai Tucson
Best for: Empty nesters
Honestly, the Kia Sportage could’ve slotted right in here, too, but the Tucson is the bigger seller. The Sportage and the Tucson — along with the Kia Niro and the Hyundai Santa Cruz — all share variations of the same platform and powertrains.
The number of people we’ve recommended the Tucson to is in the dozens, at least, and we’ve never had anyone come back complaining, even after years of use. A large number of people who took us up on that advice seemed to be people whose kids have gone off to college and are permanently out of the house. For that particular consumer, the Tucson seems like one of the best options in a crowded segment.
The Tucson soldiers on into 2024 with its dramatic grille, geometric daytime running lights and bulging fenders, and adds new safety and infotainment tech as well as a new color. The Tucson gets great IIHS crash test scores, registering a Top Safety Pick+ win for the 2023 model, which carries over to 2024. And you get all the things that make this a great crossover, including good cargo space, decent fuel economy and a roomy passenger compartment.
Where it gets confusing is selecting a trim level. First off, there’s gas engine vs. hybrid vs. plug-in hybrid. There are four gas-powered trim levels, four hybrids and two plug-in hybrids. Our money is on the plug-in model, which provides 33 miles of all-electric range for your around-town driving, with 35 MPG combined.
Subaru Crosstrek
Best for: The occasional overlander
Subaru has rolled out an all new, third-generation Crosstrek for 2024, and while the changes are subtle, rest assured it’s an entirely new model from the ground up. After all, the Crosstrek remains one of the brand’s top-selling vehicles year after year and Subaru surely didn’t want to spoil a winning formula. It’s also the vehicle that allows the brand to remain somewhat youthful. Both the Outback and the Forester consumer tend to skew slightly older, while the Crosstrek’s impressively low entry price keeps it a favorite among first-time new car buyers of all ages.
The biggest part of the appeal is all-wheel drive, which Subaru essentially gives away for free. In almost every other vehicle in this class, you’re looking at vehicles that have the same entry price as the Crosstrek, but charge another $2,000 to $3,000 for all-wheel drive.
For 2024 the Crosstrek offers a choice of powertrains. The base engine is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder, or for more power you can select the 2.5-liter mill. This new model also arrives with new exterior colors, a spectacular 11.6-inch multimedia touchscreen display, and an available Wilderness trim for enhanced off-road capability.
Hyundai Venue
Best for: The bargain shopper
There is one less expensive compact SUV on the market, but we’re saving it for the end because we like it for other reasons beyond the price. The 2024 Hyundai Venue comes in at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of less than $20,000 if you opt for the cheapest SE trim level.
And you might as well, because there’s no vast difference between the bargain basement SE and the Limited, which comes in at $22,150. It has the same 121 horsepower 1.6-liter four-cylinder. It has the same front-wheel drive transaxle. There is no option for all-wheel drive.
Hyundai is well-known for offering some of the best warranty programs in the business, and the Venue is no exception: it gets a five-year/60,000-mile basic warranty and a 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty. If you’re looking to get into something that fits the “compact SUV” form factor but you don’t fancy spending a whole lot of money, this is pretty much the way to do it.
Volkswagen Taos
Best for: The Euro-curious
Sneakily, Volkswagen’s Taos had another good year in 2023, selling over 58,000 examples. The Taos straddles the line between subcompact SUV and compact crossover SUV, replacing the Volkswagen Golf, the car that singlehandedly saved Volkswagen from sliding into oblivion.
The Taos slots below the Volkswagen Tiguan and is available in two driveline configurations (front-wheel drive and AWD) and three trim levels (S, SE, and SEL). Regardless of what driveline or trim you choose, your Taos will be powered by a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 158hp. If you choose front-wheel drive, you get an eight-speed automatic transmission. Chose 4Motion all-wheel drive and you get the seven-speed DSG—or dual-clutch—automatic gearbox. 4Motion will set you back about $2,400.
All Taos feature “Volkswagen Digital Cockpit,” a high-resolution digital instrument panel in place of the traditional analog gauges. If you want advanced safety features like Adaptive Front Lighting, Lane Assist, Park Distance Control, High Beam Control, Blind Spot Monitoring and Adaptive Cruise Control, rest assured Volkswagen’s IQ.Drive suite of driver assistance technologies now come standard.
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
Best for: The fuel-conscious
Here’s something you haven’t seen since the days of the sporty first generation Eclipse: A Mitsubishi with strong sales figures. The Outlander PHEV is a plug-in hybrid hits on the magic formula of fuel consciousness and availability. That blend resulted in a 241 percent increase in sales volume in 2023.
The Outlander PHEV has good electric-only range. On battery power alone, you can drive for 38 miles before the gas engine has to kick in. If you work in an office with a Level 2 charger, these specs mean you could conceivably travel to and from work every day without ever having to put gas in the tank.
The Outlander PHEV is also fairly affordable, and since it’s a bit larger than the rest of the vehicles it competes with. While based on the same platform as the two-row Nissan Rogue, it’s one of very few compact SUVs to offer third-row seating, hovering into the midsize SUV class.
Kia Niro
Best for: EV curious consumers
The Niro is offered in three different types of powertrain: a hybrid, a plug-in hybrid, and the full EV. We had a chance to drive the Niro EV and loved it for a lot of reasons, including its 253 mile range, and its ability to add 100 miles of range in about half an hour using a 100kWh DC fast charger. We also love that Kia didn’t skimp on its 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty, beating most of the EV marketplace by two years.
What’s doubly nice about it, is that you don’t feel like you’re driving some exhibit from the Epcot Center. This is a fairly conventional compact crossover that just happens to be powered by electricity.
Because the Niro doesn’t yet utilize battery components sourced domestically, the federal tax incentive does not apply for purchasing, so you may want to lease to take advantage of the $7500 incentive. If the write-off is that important to you, you might consider the plug-in hybrid as a good first step before diving into the EV pool at the deep end. And unlike the Toyota RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid SUV, these are actually readily available.
Jeep Compass
Best for: Light off-road enthusiasts
There’s no way we ever would’ve suggested a first generation Jeep Compass, but the second generation vehicles are surprisingly competent small SUVs with the ability to tackle some challenging off-road segments if you choose the Trailhawk trim level.
US-based Compasses (Compassi? Compass?) are equipped with the 2.0-liter turbocharged four cylinder that powers a lot of the Fiat and smaller Jeep lineup. Unlike the earlier Compass, the current generation is only available in four-wheel drive. They’re also all equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission in every trim level.
Styling is a direct lift from its Jeep siblings, looking like a Grand Cherokee that’s been shrunk in the dryer. Even in the base Sport trim level, the interior is well equipped with a Uconnect 5 infotainment system with a 10.1-inch touchscreen, six speakers, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a 4G WiFi hot spot. These compact crossovers are also well equipped with a full suite of safety equipment including forward collision warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross path detection, active lane management, and pedestrian and cyclist emergency detection.
Toyota Corolla Cross
Best for: Fans of Toyota quality
The Corolla Cross is based on the same Toyota New Global Architecture platform (GA-C) as the Toyota Corolla and Lexus UX. The North American Corolla Cross is equipped with a 2.0-litre gas engine paired with a "Direct Shift" CVT, with all-wheel drive as a standard feature even on the base L trim level. A hybrid version is available, because Toyota, and returns fuel efficiency of 42 mpg combined, besting the gas-only engine by 10 mpg.
Even at the base level, buyers get the Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 standard, which means every Corolla Cross comes with dynamic cruise control, lane departure alert with steering assist, and automatic high beams. Blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert come standard only on upper trims.
Inside, the L trim has manual air conditioning, while the LE has single zone automatic climate control, and the XLE gets dual zone. Also look for a 7-inch multi-information display screen on the XLE. The LE and XLE come equipped with wireless mobile device charging.
